The Crash on Wickery Bridge
by cavlik97
Summary: Elena is involved in a car accident. The gang rushes to her aid and Stefan is forced to switch his humanity back on. Slight spoilers for 3x07 and kinda AU but still sticks to season 3 so far. Better than it sounds, honestly :P
1. The Crash

**A/N: Hey! I haven't written a VD story in AGES! Well, they keep changing the storyline, it's hard to write anything more than a oneshot(: Anyway, this is exactly like the summary says: **_**Elena gets caught in a car accident. Everyone rushes to her aid and Stefan is forced to switch his humanity back on. Slight spoilers for 3x07. **_**Kinda AU, I reckon but I hope you like(: **

As Stefan watched Katherine dive into the lake under Wickery Bridge, he felt his heart thump uncontrollably in his chest. Not again. And this time, he couldn't do anything about it...the lake was laced with vervain. He glanced over at Damon, who was muttering 'Come on, come on, you useless bitch...' under his breath. Caroline and Bonnie were in tears. Alaric looked terrified...Stefan knew that Elena was practically a daughter to him...losing her would mean losing a child. Meanwhile, Sheriff Forbes was calling off all backup or ambulances, knowing that his rescue needed to be kept a secret.

It had been late at night and Damon hadn't heard from Elena all evening. Her phone was dead and the two Salvatore brothers went over to the Gilbert house to see if Elena was home yet. Damon seemed to be irritated by Stefan tagging along but with Klaus's orders, there was nothing else Damon could say. However, Elena wasn't there. She hadn't been seen since the afternoon. It was at that moment, that the news had come up with an urgent headline, stating that onlookers had seen a car spin off Wickery Bridge and sink into the lake. Jeremy was the one who recognised the licence plate as Elena's. While Alaric, Bonnie and Jeremy seemed frozen for a moment, Stefan, Damon and Caroline zoomed over to the lake, immediately diving in. Their attempts didn't last long, as they had to drag each other out of the lake when the realised vervain had been growing in it since the last time a vampire had swum. By this time, Sheriff Forbes had showed up and to everyone's amazement, Katherine. She dived in and Stefan had remembered that she was immune to vervain.

'Why do you even care?' Damon asked his brother, his eyes not leaving the lake.

'It was all fake,' Stefan said, confessing what he'd tried to keep a secret ever since prank night. 'Like Klaus said. The only thing stronger that his compulsion is my love for Elena.'

'You faked switching it off,' Alaric said in realisation. Stefan nodded. 'I had to attack her to make it look real. I had to act like I didn't care, become my old, ripper self. It was hard to control and even harder to see her so torn up. But it's what I had to do to protect her.'

Still no sign of Katherine. Or Elena.

'You let Lexi torture you?' Damon asked, sounding incredulous. Stefan shook his head. 'For a while. But when Elena left, I told her. I explained to her what I was doing and she understood. As soon as she heard Elena coming back, she stabbed the stake into me again. She knew how important it was for me to seem like a monster.'

Then, Katherine emerged, pulling her identical doppleganger from the lake. The four hundred year old vampire had been weakened, and collapsed on the pebbles as soon as Elena was out of the water.

'Elena!' Caroline cried, shaking her. Bonnie tried giving her CPR, Damon tried giving her his blood, Stefan tried too...but nothing seemed to be working.

'Move,' Katherine said hoarsely, pulling herself over to Elena.

'Why are you helping?' Damon demanded. 'Not that we're complaining.'

'I want Klaus dead,' Katherine reminded. 'Elena seems to be doing a good job of finding ways to kill him.' She ripped the skin off her wrist with her teeth and pressed it to Elena's mouth.

'How is your blood going to make any more difference that ours?' Stefan said angrily, kicking the grass as grief overwhelmed him.

'My blood is her blood,' Katherine snapped. 'Our bodies are made up of the same DNA that makes us look exactly alike, the same bloodlines and everything. What's more, she's my doppleganger. I think _my _blood will make more of a difference than _yours_.'

Elena suddenly sat up, gasping, her eyes fluttering open.

'Elena!' everyone cried, rushing to her side. She collapsed but Stefan caught her, just before her head hit the ground. She saw that he was drenched in lake water and tried to smile. 'You saved me again?'

'It wasn't me this time,' Stefan admitted. He brushed her soaking wet hair off of her face. 'I love you, Elena.'

'I know,' she replied, before her eyes closed and she fell into unconsciousness again.

**A/N: Should I continue it or just make it a kinda weird oneshot? Read and review, pleeeease! :D **


	2. The Lies

**A/N: I got so much positive feedback I thought "hell, what's the harm in writing another chapter? Next ep. Isn't for another week(:" and then the next ep. came along but hey, who really cares, this is an AU story...thus, here we are... enjoy!**

When Elena opened her eyes, she saw Damon's flirtatious, but evidently greatly relieved grin. Caroline was on the end of the bed, Alaric on the other side of the room, Jeremy and Bonnie both there on either side of the bed. Stefan? Nowhere in sigh. Elena swallowed, searching her surroundings for the tall, handsome figure with the familiar, spiky hair.

'He's gone to inform Klaus that you're safe,' Damon said quietly.

'What?' said Elena, confused.

'Elena, his compulsion only broke for those few minutes you were submerged,' Caroline said, inwardly torturing herself for the lies. Stefan had convinced them that it was the safest thing to do...then, Elena's plan to kill Klaus, which was fueled on the hope of saving Stefan, didn't fade. Caroline saw her best friend's face fall, her eyes shimmering with tears.

'I'm sorry, 'Lena,' Bonnie said, reaching out to squeeze Elena's hand.

'You're okay, then,' a velvety, but toneless voice said from the doorway. Elena looked up, seeing Stefan, leaning against the doorframe looking extremely uninterested. She felt her heart crumble. 'I'm fine,' she said flatly.

'Good...' Stefan said. Elena almost saw a flicker of emotion in his eyes before he continued talking. '...It means I can leave to get on with my more pressing matters at hand.' He turned swiftly, disappearing down the stairs. Elena swallowed back several tears which would be followed by a meltdown. 'I think I'll get something to eat and then go back to sleep,' she said finally, swinging her legs out of the bed and trudging downstairs to the kitchen.

'Barbie, look after her,' ordered Damon. Caroline nodded, zooming out of the room.

'I'll go too,' Bonnie offered, hurrying downstairs after he friends.

'Me 'n Ric will keep an eye on her,' Jeremy promised. 'You go get Stefan. That couldn't have been easy for him.'

Damon nodded and in a matter of minutes, he was at the boarding house. Stefan was sitting in an armchair, doing nothing. Katherine was on the sofa. Damon and Stefan, both grudgingly grateful for her being Elena's saviour, allowed her to stay at the boarding house awhile. Damon poured himself a whisky, glancing at his brother. 'You okay?' he asked.

'I hate lying to her,' Stefan said bitterly. 'But it's all we can do if we want Klaus dead.'

'I know,' Damon agreed. 'So.' He turned his attention to Katherine. 'Bitch. Will you help us?'

'Kill Klaus?' Katherine said, not flinching at Damon's harsh addressing of her. 'Sure. Just keep me out of the gunfire.'

'Done.' Damon said and there was silence in the room.

Meanwhile, Elena was gazing at her plate of roast chicken, unable to eat it. All she could think about was how crazy it was that Stefan was faking it. For a couple of minutes? Not possible. When he stopped her head from slamming into the ground, his eyes were full of love and devotion that she couldn't even consider the fact that he was really compelled. And then he'd said it. His voice...the tone of his velvety, rich, amazing voice made it _mean _something. And she knew. She'd always known. He would break through it and come back to her because he _loved her. _Bitterly, Elena stabbed the chicken with her fork. Her brutal stabs were interrupted by the buzzing of her phone. She reached out, checking the message. It was from Stefan. She held her breath, opening the text.

_D said that I broke the compulsion, _he had written, _i don't know what i said...i guess that's how it works. but i know one thing for sure. if i broke the compulsion & said something to u, it had to have been true. I'm saying this bcuz i owe u this much. Bcuz u continue to love me no matter what. -S_

With that, Elena let her phone drop to the kitchen counter as she dug into her chicken, her heart slowly piecing itself back together. She smiled, receiving confused, but happy looks from the others.

Back in the boarding house, Stefan knew that the text he had sent was a risk...but the hurt he had seen in her before was too much for either of them to bear. She had to know that he still loved her...and that she had to keep fighting. Because he loved her and she loved him.

They owed each other that much.

**A/N: Did you like it? I hope so(: And, OMG what did you think of this week's episode? No Stelena scenes :( but some very interesting information arose... :O aand anyway... you know what to do, read and review! **

**PS- should I continue it further? **


	3. The Loners

**A/N: Wow! I'm really surprised (and thrilled) at how much everyone's enjoying the story(: wow, i have no self confidence, do I? Aaanyway... more was requested and more will be served on the silver platter we know as **

**I just realised I should probably do a disclaimer... :)**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing...just my ideas. If I did own VD... well. I certainly wouldn't be going to school this morning.**

Elena twisted the lock on her locker, flinging it open. She'd been bombarded with people asking whether she was okay, if she'd lost consciousness , whether she had trauma from the night her parents died...

To be honest, Elena hadn't even _thought _about the night her parents died. She'd saved the text on her phone. Saved it as a document on her computer. Written in her journal. On her hand. She'd memorised it, repeated it, murmured it, tried to interpret it every way possible in case Stefan had tried to send her a secret message in the text. And she'd come to a one word conclusion.

Compulsion.

It couldn't be as strong as Klaus had hoped. It couldn't be...Stefan had managed to break out of it at senior prank night because of his love for Elena. He'd broken out of it when she was in danger and he'd done everything in his power to save her...

She'd contemplated the possibility that his compulsion was a fake...but Bonnie or Caroline would've told her. They would've...they were her best friends. They'd trust her to know, wouldn't they?

Stefan glanced over the school from his locker to see Elena looking thoughtfully into her history text book. He hadn't received an answer to the text that night, but Alaric, extremely confused, had let Damon know that Elena was in brighter spirits, which assured Stefan that the text had found its reader. He shoved his history books in his locker, only to be approached by a very touchy Rebekah.

'I heard you saved her life,' she said icily.

'Klaus compelled me to protect her. It's my job,' was his reply. Rebekah narrowed her eyes, slamming his locker shut, making him jump a little.

'If you're hiding something...' she began.

'I'm not,' Stefan said quickly. 'Look, why don't you get your pretty little head around the fact that I tried to save her life and couldn't, and get your books so that I don't have to see you again until history.'

Rebekah flushed and stormed off, her heels clicking across the lino floors sharply.

'Somebody didn't get her blood fix,' Tyler muttered from his locker. Stefan ignored him. Everybody was pretty pissed at Tyler at the moment and Stefan was happy to stick to the rules. As the bell rang our shrilly through the school and most of what Damon liked to call 'Team Mystic Falls' filed into Alaric's history class. Stefan took his seat next to Elena, trying hard to keep up his 'I'm a dick who has no humanity and doesn't care about anything' act.

'We'll be studying Greek mythology today,' Alaric announced, keeping a discreet but careful eye on Elena who gave him a reassuring smile. Stefan was surprised by a piece of paper arriving on his desk from Elena's and he un-crumpled it.

_Thanx_, was written in Elena's neat handwriting, _I know u probably didn't mean a word of that txt but the fact that you sent it means a lot. _

Stefan swallowed back the urge to scribble out _It's because I was faking it. I've been faking it the whole time. I love you and I'm so sorry _but he knew that if he did, things would most likely take a turn for the worst.

_Let's just say that Klaus's compulsion works...but humanity is just a bit stronger, _he wrote, passing it back to her. Any ordinary teacher would've marched over and snatched the note out of Elena's hand but Alaric ignored it. Stefan watched as Elena's eyes widened slightly and she scribbled down _You're fighting it? _

_I'm starting to_, Stefan wrote back, _but don't get your hopes up. I still don't feel anything for you. I just saw how hurt you were that day and started to...I don't know, feel guilty...even though I don't know what I said. I guess I'm starting to feel again...but Klaus can't know. And you can't get your hopes up. _

Elena didn't reply but Stefan could see the small smile on her face. She slid the note across the floor to Bonnie, mouthing 'Burn it.'

If Klaus got any word that his compulsion was failing...nobody wanted to even contemplate that situation. Easiest thing to do was destroy the evidence.

'Class,' Alaric said with a sigh, 'even though I am the awesome teacher, I do have to stick to curriculum. You have to do this activity workbook before you start the assignment. The first activity is a crossword on the history of Greek mythology. Your answers stick to the year.'

Immediately, both Stefan and Elena glanced at each and grinned before getting stuck into their work. However, Stefan couldn't hide his additional smile when he heard Elena murmur 'Loner.'

**A/N: I've just rewatched season 1 and remembered the whole history-crossword-football-loner thing. You probably won't get it unless you remember(: I hope you guys liked it and OMG have you all seen the mid season finale? FREAKING OUT! **

**Aaanyway. If I do continue this story, it will probably mean incorporating episodes 8 and 9 because those are incredibly important episodes and I'll just twist it my own way(: So you know what to do, read and review and tell me if I should continue... reviews are love.**


	4. The Truth

**A/N: I was originally gonna rewrite eps 8 and 9 for this story but I realised I have SO MUCH MORE TO DO (and other stories to write) so this is gonna sum up and finish this story! I am sooo pleased at how it's come along and I'm thanking all of you so much for all your feedback(: This was a random idea that popped into my head and hey, my school year just finished 2 hours and 10 minutes so I have nothing else to do:) Enjoy! And pleeease review on this chapter, I'm hoping that you like it!**

**P.S.—This chapter is set like, three months, four months into the future (after the last chapter)**

Elena collapsed to her knees, clutching her chest as she struggled to keep her breathing under control. She let the vervain grenade fall out of her hands and clatter to the concrete underneath her. She looked up and could only just make out Klaus's lifeless body in front of her. She glanced back, her heart still thumping. She was alone. And Rebekah hated her guts...this wasn't going to end well...

But to her surprise, instead of Rebekah speeding towards her and ripping her heart out, the female original vampire rushed off, disappearing into the Mystic Falls night. Elena slowly started to breath normally again, eying the now literally heartless hybrid in front of her. Katherine glanced between Elena and Stefan before giving the latter a brief nod, disappearing in the opposite direction as Rebekah almost immediately afterwards.

'Elena,' Stefan said softly from beside Klaus. She looked up to meet his tired but still gorgeous green eyes. His hands were covered in Klaus's blood and he quickly wiped them on the dead hybrid's clothing.

'Elena,' Stefan said again. 'Let's go.'

Elena nodded, unable to get a coherent word out, stumbling to her feet and allowing Stefan to guide her back to the road.

'Wait...' she mumbled. 'What about...?' She nodded her head towards Klaus. Stefan chewed his bottom lip before whipping out his phone and dialing a number that Elena was too exhausted to recognise.

'Damon,' Stefan began but was cut off by yelling and demands on the end. 'Damon!' he yelled. 'It's over. Klaus is dead.'

Elena watched as Stefan listened to Damon's reaction. Stefan asked that Damon pick Klaus is body up from behind the Grill. There was an agreement before Stefan hung up. Elena felt his gentle hand on the small of her back, leading her down the footpath.

'Can't you just...you know...super speed me back home...whatever that's called?' Elena asked, grumbling. Stefan laughed, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. 'No,' he said. 'It's better that you walk.'

Silently, Elena sort of agreed. 'You said...before you ran off this morning...you said it was all fake. Did you mean the compulsion?'

Stefan stopped walking, turning to face her, anxiety evident on his face. 'Elena, everything I did, I did to protect you! I only faked it because I knew Klaus would do something to _make _me turn it off and he would end up doing something to you! Elena, I'm so sorry...'

Elena shook her head with a chuckle, stepping forward and kissing him lightly. 'It's okay,' she murmured, puling back slightly. 'I understand.'

'I'm glad you came looking for me this evening,' admitted Stefan. 'I mean, if you hadn't...I wouldn't be here...'

'Please don't even make me consider that...' Elena begged. Stefan smiled, taking her face in his hands. 'It's over,' he breathed. Elena exhaled shakily. 'I'm trying to figure out what that means.'

'Well,' Stefan said, taking her hand as they continued to walk down the street. 'No more vervain in the back pocket. No more late night vampire killing lessons.'

'No more looking over my shoulder every ten minutes,' Elena added.

'No more blood donations to Klaus,' Stefan said between grit teeth.

'No more sired Tyler,' brought up Elena. 'Klaus's dead so...'

'It must've worn off,' Stefan said in realisation. 'Well, I don't have to act like I'm compelled any more. You don't have to sleep with a stake under your pillow. And...' He sighed as they got to her doorstep. '...now we can talk about what _future _actually means.'

'Why don't we save that for tomorrow?' Elena suggested, squeezing his hand. 'You should go help Damon and sort out the details.'

'I'll check on you later tonight,' Stefan promised, ducking his head down to plant another soft kiss on her lips. Moments later, he was gone. Elena couldn't keep the stupid grin off her face as she slipped into her house, immediately ambushed by Alaric, Jeremy, Caroline, Bonnie and Matt.

'Elena!' Jeremy cried. 'Where the _hell _have you been?'

'Klaus is dead,' Elena announced. 'He's gone. It's over.'

Caroline blinked. 'T...that must be why Tyler collapsed before...he just fainted...'

'You're serious?' Bonnie whispered. 'I...wow...'

'Do you know about Stef...' Alaric began but Elena nodded, answering his question. 'I think I'm gonna get some sleep,' she said. 'I'm really tired...we should all go round to the boarding house tomorrow, sort things out.'

'Yeah...' Caroline said. 'I'll go tell Mom. Ric, can you look after Tyler...?'

'I'll call Carol,' Alaric promised. 'Night Elena.' Echoes of his last sentence repeated throughout the room and Elena gave everyone a smile before hurrying up the stairs and shutting her door behind her. He was waiting at her window seat. Smiling that adorable smile of his, his hair spiky, untamed and soft.

'You said _later_,' Elena reminded. Stefan shrugged. 'Damon's more than capable of dealing with dead bodies...'

'He'll be pissed.'

'I don't care.'

Stefan could see the smile had made it's way to her eyes that were twinkling in the dim light of the room. 'You're staring,' he stated, feeling his lips tug upwards in a reminiscent smirk.

'I'm gazing,' Elena corrected, laughing quietly.

'It's creepy.'

'It's romantic.'

'At the moment, I'm inclined to agree.' And he closed the gap between them, seizing her face as he kissed her and they both knew, at that exact moment...they had all the time in the world.

**A/N: Terrible, terrible ending, I know. I was looking through adorable Stelena scenes and hey, this one just stands out. So whattaya think? Did you like the (not so grand) story finale? **

**AND I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL JAN 5****TH****! SOOORRY had to vent about it. Who else is with me here? **

**Feedback...pleeease**

**reviews are love so "you know what to do, read and review" and thaank you for everything and all your comments on this story! You guys are amazing! **

**-chimi:) **


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